Ferrari's decision to order Felipe Massa to stand aside for Fernando Alonso in Germany on Sunday was the latest in a seemingly never-ending series of controversies in this most controversial of sports. But was the criticism warranted?

The vitriol flowed freely on internet message boards last night.

"Absolutely disgusting. Ferrari should be disqualified. Eddie is right. It is robbery from us, the fans," wrote one anonymous texter.

The Eddie referred to was Eddie Jordan, the former team owner and now BBC pundit who opined that Ferrari's tactics constituted "theft".

"They stole from us the chance of having a wheel-to-wheel contest between the drivers," Jordan said. "For me it is cheating and these two cars should be excluded."

Jordan clearly did not feel so strongly about this subject in 1998 when he forbade Ralf Schumacher from attempting to pass Damon Hill at Spa in order to secure a one-two.

The point is team orders have always been around in F1 and always will be. The rule may be crystal clear – it is illegal to "interfere with the race result" – but it is also unenforceable. To pretend otherwise is deluded. Teams can always find ways of circumventing the rules. It is what they do.

The race in Turkey earlier this season was highly questionable and there were plenty who thought that Red Bull had tried to get Sebastian Vettel past Mark Webber prior to their crash. Others thought that McLaren later tried to 'control' the result of that race by stopping their drivers racing. Both teams, it should be noted, vigorously denied the allegations. But it happens.

Ask yourself, what would you have had Stefano Domenicali do? The Ferrari team principal is a man under intense pressure. He had one driver 47 points off the championship lead and the other 78 points behind. With a fair wind Alonso might just win the championship.

Ferrari could still gain maximum constructors' points either way.

Cynical? Perhaps. But as the drivers frequently tell us, this is a team sport, not an individual one. It is also a hugely commercial sport. Teams have responsibilities to shareholders and sponsors as well as to fans.

Domenicali would not have enjoyed making the call he did. Massa is part of the Ferrari family and it was the anniversary of his near-fatal crash in Hungary. And if the Brazilian had still been in the title mix he would not have made it. But he isn't.

Martin Brundle was honest enough to admit he would have done the same in his position. David Coulthard went further, saying that "this whole rule about team orders is ridiculous. You shouldn't stop teams being able to control their race result". For now it is illegal. Ferrari were caught and they must pay. But maybe it is time the rules were changed?